Big 12 Power Rankings: Week 5

Here's the first of what I hope to be a weekly article on Power Rankings in the Big 12. Feel free to disagree as much as you like in the comments.

1. Oklahoma (5-0): For a few minutes last Saturday, I thought that Oklahoma was trying to give Texas the game. The blown play and Landry Jones' fumble were a huge mental error. All that said, frankly Oklahoma has the ability beat every team below them on this list. That is not to say they will beat them.
   
2. Nebraska (4-0): I don't honestly believe Nebraska deserves to be #2 in the conference right now. Their strength of schedule this year looks like a Bill Snyder Special. But when you get down to it, you have to put Nebraska here, purely based on the play of the teams below them.
3. Oklahoma State (4-0): In the first half of Thursday night's game, OSU looked awful. Their defense kept them in the game, but their Offense sputtered like a Model T. They played 60 minutes of a football game though, and came out on top by sheer will-power and some poor decisions on the part of Jerrod Johnson.
4. Kansas State (4-0): I rank KSU below OSU for one reason, KSU's offense is dangerously one-dimensional. No ISU couldn't stop Daniel Thomas, but I'm betting some other teams can. Carson Coffman stepped up two weeks ago, but he's not the kind of guy you'd want to rely on in a pinch. They did put UCLA away, who then beat Texas, so I'm comfortable with KSU here.
   
5. Missouri (4-0): David Ubben at ESPN ranked Missouri's out of conference schedule dead last and called it "Soggy fries with weak sauce" which is a perfect description of who they played. Reality will be held off for one more week, however, as Colorado comes to town. After that, the real world may come as a bit of a shock to Blaine Gabbert and the Tigers.
6. Texas (3-2): Oh how the mighty have fallen. On one hand I've been thinking "poor Texas" because they're in a real bind right now. Garrett Gilbert looks more and more like he's the wrong man for the job in Austin, but maybe he just needs more seasoning. That and a couple of dollars at Starbucks will get you a latte.
   
7. Texas A&M (3-1): I was tempted to rank A&M lower than this, but in the end they played hard against OSU on Thursday night and proved their defense is light-years ahead of where it was last year. Which isn't saying much when you consider how bad their defense was. On the other hand, I expect A&M to get blown away by Arkansas this weekend at Jerry-world. So they may end of free-falling next week.
8. Iowa State (3-2): The Iowa game was hard to stomach, but the KSU game was worse. The execution just wasn't their and the penalties were maddening. But ISU rebounded nicely blanking UNI and playing a near perfect game against Texas Tech. #10 Utah comes to Ames to play under the lights this weekend. This kicks off the nightmarish October for the Cyclones.
9. Baylor (4-1): Hot off the presses: Robert Griffin III is the second coming of Christ! Read all about it! Seriously though, while I think RG3 is over-hyped beyond belief, he's the best QB Baylor has seen in more than a decade, and while some would put Baylor above ISU, they don't have a quality win, and ISU does.
   
10. Colorado (3-1): In the Ode to Hawkins year, Colorado starts off 3-1, but let's not get too excited yet in Boulder. Georgia looks to be a bottom-feeder in the SEC and Cal exposed the weaknesses of Colorado for the world to see. Don't expect win #4 in Colombia this week Buff's.
11. Texas Tech (2-2): Now Texas Tech, I do feel sorry for. You absolutely do NOT deserve to be ranked below Colorado and Baylor. It's time to climb the mountain in Lubbock and secure some wins. The offense is clicking for the Red Raiders finally, but the defense needs work.
12. Kansas (2-3): Kansas, I would have forgiven you for losing to Baylor, but you lost by 48 points... to Baylor! It's going to be a long year in Lawrence. I give Turner Gill a free pass this year, but that's all you get.